TOPIC: Cracked Fat Fifty Lower Unit

Pulled the boat out of the garage and noticed some oil puddled up under the motor. Fresh gear oil that i'd just filled recently. Did some looking around and found this:



not the way i wanted to start my saturday and my second attempt at a maiden voyage. i've heard from several members that it's pretty common to save the cover and scrap the rest of the motor with these 50's, so... anyone have one lying around they don't need? i'm going to attempt to pull it apart and use some JB weld or something of the like to patch it until it can be replaced.

I wouldn't throw it away over something as simple as that. I had the same problem with mine and had it repaired correctly by an expert aluminum welder. Or, you just replace the skeg.

i've got a couple....redfishpirates@sbcglobal.net

redfish - i sent an e-mail just now. check your junk mail folders, as my e-mails tend to end up there. thanks!

w guy - We have plenty of aluminum welders at work. most of the crack would be easy peasy to weld up. the problem area would be inside of the bolt recess. the crack tee's off and heads back in there as well as going around the bottom. my hesitation with welding is the heat. the crack goes through into the area the forward bearing rests in. any warpage in that area would really hose me and i figured that if JB weld would work, i'd go that route. kind of a one shot deal on the welding and my luck is REALLY horrible. if i can find a non-cracked replacement on the cheap, i'd feel alot better about taking a run at welding it.

sorry....didn't get your email....looks like the hyperlink picked up part of the text....might have to type it in.....a kwik look i have 2 if i can get one off without tearing anything up....full day today but i'll try tommarrow....john

i noticed the hyperlink error and typed it out. i just double checked my spelling and all. it was spelled correctly. perhaps it got rejected by your ISP before it ever hit your inbox. i am not sure. anyway, my e-mail is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if the one i sent you doesn't ever show up. and i'm not pressed for time. the JB weld did a better job than expected, so i'm not leaking fluid everywhere at the moment. =)

redfish -

the skeg arrived today! thanks!

now onward to resealing the thing. i put some air pressure to the housing and it looks like i'm leaking out of pretty much every seal there is. so i dug most all of the seals out but i had a couple questions.

first, what's the most effective way to get these two out without damaging the housings they sit in?

second, i know this is supposed to be a seal (on the hole the driveshaft goes through, not the water tube), but it doesn't appear to be sealing anything... is mine damaged and/or missing something? otherwise it's just a rubber ring sitting there.

lastly, the manual calls out using a hardening sealant such as "sealer 1000". what the heck is sealer 1000? is there an auto-parts store equivalent?